The Face of Deception (4 page)

She ran out the door and sank down on the doorstep. Cold. She was so cold. She clasped her arms around her body in a futile attempt to banish the chill.

“There's a police car parked outside. Are you all right?”

She looked up to see Logan standing a few feet away. She couldn't deal with him now. “Go away.”

“What's wrong?”

“Go away.”

He looked behind her at the doorway. “Something happened?”

“Yes.”

“I'll be right back.” He went past her into the lab. He was back beside her in a few minutes. “Very nasty.”

“They killed my neighbor's cat. They smashed Mandy.”

“I saw the shattered bones on the desk.” He paused. “Was that where you found them?”

She shook her head. “On the floor beside it.”

“But you and your mother weren't hurt?”

Lord, she wished she could stop shivering. “Go away, I don't want to talk to you.”

“Where's your mother?”

“At Mrs. Dobbins's. Her cat— Go away.”

“Not until someone's here to take care of you.” He pulled her to her feet. “Come on, we're going to the house.”

“I don't need anyone to take care—” He was half tugging her down the path. “Let me go. Don't touch me.”

“As soon as I get you to the house and get something hot inside you.”

She pulled her arm away from him. “I don't have time to sit around having coffee. I have to call the insurance company.”

“I'll do it.” He nudged her gently up the steps and into the kitchen. “I'll handle everything.”

“I don't want you to handle everything. I want you to go away.”

“Then be quiet and let me get you something to drink.” He pushed her down into a chair at the table. “It's the quickest way to get rid of me.”

“I don't want to sit—” She gave up. She was in no shape to do battle just then. “Hurry up.”

“Yes, ma'am.” He turned toward the cabinet. “Where's the coffee?”

“In the blue canister on the counter.”

He ran water into the carafe. “When did it happen?”

“Last night. Sometime after midnight.”

“You locked the lab?”

“Of course I did.”

“Easy.” He measured coffee into the coffeemaker. “You didn't hear anything?”

“No.”

“I'm surprised, with all that damage.”

“Joe said he knew exactly what he was doing.”

He turned on the coffeepot. “Any idea who did it?”

She shook her head. “No fingerprints. Gloves maybe.”

He took a cardigan from a hook on the laundry room door. “Gloves. Then it wasn't done by amateurs.”

“I told you that.”

He draped the sweater over her shoulders. “So you did.”

“And this is my mother's sweater.”

“You need it. I don't think she'd mind.”

She did need it. She couldn't stop shivering.

He picked up the phone.

“What are you doing?”

“I'm calling my personal assistant, Margaret Wilson. What's the name of your insurance company?”

“Security America, but you don't—”

“Hello, Margaret. John,” he said into the phone. “I need you to— Yes, I know it's a Saturday.” He listened patiently. “Yes, Margaret. It's a terrible imposition. I'm duly grateful for your forbearance. Now, will you shut up and let me tell you what I need?”

Eve stared at him in surprise. Whatever she had expected, it was not Logan browbeaten by one of his employees.

He grimaced at Eve, still listening. “Now?” he repeated into the phone.

Evidently this time the answer was an affirmative, because he said, “Make a report to Security America for Eve Duncan.” He spelled the last name. “Break-in, vandalism, and possible theft. If you need details or verification, call Joe Quinn, Atlanta P.D. I want a claims investigator out here right away, and arrange for a cleaning crew. I want that lab spic-and-span by midnight.” He sighed. “No, I don't want you to fly out here and do it yourself, Margaret. Sarcasm isn't necessary. Just take care of it. I don't want Eve Duncan bothered with anything more than signing her name to a claim report. I also want a security force out here protecting the property and Eve and Sandra Duncan. Call me if you run into any trouble. No, I'm not doubting your efficiency, I just—” He listened a moment more and then said gently but firmly, “Good-bye, Margaret.” He hung up, then reached into the cabinet for a cup. “Margaret will take care of it.”

“She doesn't want to.”

“She just wants to make sure I never take her for granted. If I'd done it myself, she would have accused me of not trusting her to take care of it.” He poured hot coffee into the cup. “Cream or sugar?”

“Black. Has she been with you a long time?”

“Nine years.” He set the coffee down in front of her. “We need to go back out there and collect anything that you don't want the insurance investigator going through.”

“I don't think I need to hurry.” She took a sip of coffee. “I've never seen an insurance company work that fast.”

“Trust Margaret. Someone will be here soon.” He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down opposite her. “She'll regard it as a challenge.”

“I don't know Margaret, so I can't trust her. Just as I can't trust you.” She met his gaze. “And I don't need any private security force out here. Joe's going to have a police car keep an eye on us.”

“Good. But a few extra precautions never hurt anybody. They won't get in your way.” He studied her as he took a swallow of his coffee. “Your color is better. I thought you were going to flip out.”

She did feel better. The shaking had eased a little. “Don't be stupid. I wasn't going to faint. I deal with horror stories every day. I was just upset.”

“You had a right to be, and this particular horror story hit very close to home. That makes a difference.”

Yes, her private life had been serene and free from violence since that night at the prison. She hadn't been ready to have this ugliness erupt. “It's more than that. It makes me feel like a victim. I swore I'd never be— I
hate
it.”

“I can see that you do.”

She finished her coffee and stood up. “If you really think someone from the insurance company will be coming out right away, I'd better go back and finish checking out the lab.”

“Take a little more time. Like you said, there's no hurry.”

“I want to get it over with.” She moved toward the door. “My mother will be coming home soon and I don't want her to feel that she has to do it with me.”

“You're very protective of your mother.” He followed her down the steps. “You're close?”

“Yes. We didn't used to be, but now we're good friends.”

“Friends?”

“Well, she's only sixteen years older than I am. We sort of grew up together.” She glanced over her shoulder. “You don't have to go with me, you know.”

“I know.” He opened the lab door for her. “But Margaret would be very upset with me if I made her work and didn't do a thing myself.”

FOUR

“Lots of blood,” Logan said matter-of-factly. “But the cleaning crew will take care of it.” He nodded at the pile of articles on the floor by the smashed bookcase. “Why don't you check for anything there that can be salvaged? I see a couple of photographs.”

She nodded and knelt by the bookcase. Being here was easier with Logan, she realized in surprise. His matter-of-factness lightened the darkness. There was blood; it must be cleaned. There was destruction; probe to see what could be saved.

And the pictures of Bonnie and her mother could be saved, she saw with relief. Only one corner was ripped on each. “It's okay.”

“Good. Then whoever did this isn't as clever as I thought. He didn't realize how tearing up the picture might hurt you.” He was at the desk. “I'll check the drawers and see if there's—”

“Wait! There's a—” It was too late. Logan had already opened the drawer containing the dead rat.

The rat was gone. The police must have taken it, but the drawer was still brimming with blood.

He grimaced. “I'm glad I opened this before the cleaning crew did. We might have had some trouble keeping them here.” He pulled out the drawer and carried it over to the door. “I'll get rid of it for you.”

He hadn't even displayed a flicker of surprise. “You seem to be taking all this in stride.”

“Remind me to tell you what happened to my office after my first major takeover. At least no one defecated in here. Keep on looking. I'll be right back.”

There wasn't much else to look through. The books were ripped, the hourglass her mother had bought for her at Six Flags was broken, the base of the pedestal was chopped into two pieces and—

The pedestal. Mandy.

Why had Mandy been carried to the other side of the room before being shattered? The strangeness of it had occurred to her before, but she had been too dazed to have it sink home. Everything else about the destruction seemed coldly calculated. What had been the purpose of the skull . . .

She got to her feet and moved quickly to the other side of the desk. The only object that had been smashed in that particular spot was the computer. And the skull had been brought from the pedestal to be destroyed with it.

She stared down at the computer and suddenly made the connection. “My God.”

“I thought you'd get the message once you thought about it.” Logan was standing in the doorway, watching her.

“You knew it.”

He nodded. “Once you told me where the skull had been found. He tried to make it clear, didn't he? The Logan computer. The skull. A warning.”

“Who?”

“I don't know. Evidently someone doesn't want me to use your services.”

Her gaze traveled around the room. “And that's what this is all about?”

“Yes.”

She looked back at him. “And you weren't going to tell me?”

“Not if you didn't figure it out yourself,” he said bluntly. “I was afraid it would tip the scales against me. This was meant to frighten you, and it did.”

Yes, she had been frightened. She had been scared and sick and saddened. Besides the destruction of property, Tom-Tom's life had been taken and Mandy's identity had been forever stolen.

And all of it had been done to manipulate her away from a certain path. Fury burned through her as she remembered Mrs. Dobbins's face that morning.

“Damn him.” Her voice was shaking with anger. “Damn him to hell.”

“I'll vote for that.” Logan's gaze was narrowed on her face. “I hope there's some significance to the fact that you're damning him and not me.”

“Vicious bastard.” She strode out of the lab. She couldn't ever remember being so enraged except the day Fraser had been caught. She wanted to
kill
someone. “He didn't care. People should care. How could he—” She knew how he could do it. He was probably a crazy freak like Fraser. Cruel and cold and without mercy. “I want him to pay for it.”

“Then I'll find out who it is for you,” Logan said.

She whirled on him. “How can you do that? Did you lie when you said you didn't know who he is?”

“I don't know him but I know who probably hired him.”

“Who?”

He shook his head. “I can't tell you, but I'll find out who did this.” He paused. “If you'll come with me.”

“Tell me who hired him.”

“You'll find out yourself if you come and do the job. Why not? It will take time to set up a new lab. You'll just be spinning your wheels now. I'll up the money for the Adam Fund another two hundred thousand and throw in the son of a bitch who did this to you.”

A sudden thought occurred to her. “Maybe
you
had this done to push me into going with you.”

“It would have been too chancy. You could just as well have jumped the other way. Besides, I don't kill helpless animals.”

“But you're willing to take advantage of what's happened.”

“You bet I am. Is it a deal?”

She looked around the bloodstained room, and once again rage rushed through her. “I'll think about it.”

“What if I raise the—”

“Stop pushing me. I said I'd think about it.” She picked up a box from the floor that had once contained printer paper and began to put Mandy's skull fragments inside. Her hands were still shaking with anger, she noticed. She had to be calm. “Go away. I'll call you when I've made up my mind.”

“I need to move fast on—”

“I'll call you.”

She could feel his gaze on her and expected him to continue to try to persuade her.

“I'm at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead.” He paused. “I shouldn't tell you this. It compromises my bargaining position. But I'm a desperate man, Eve. I have to have your help. There isn't anything I wouldn't do to get it. Call me and give me your price. I'll pay it.”

When she looked up, he was gone.

What would make a man like Logan that desperate? If there was any desperation in him before, he'd kept it well hidden. Maybe the confession of vulnerability had been a ploy.

Well, she would consider that later. She needed to get back to the house so her mother wouldn't come looking for her here. She picked up the pictures and Mandy's box and started for the door. She could try to put the skull back together. Even if she couldn't get a completely accurate structure, it might be enough for computer imaging—

Another wave of helpless fury washed over her as she realized that couldn't happen. Joe had told her they had no idea who Mandy could be, so how would they find a photograph? Her only hope had been of building the face and using that face to lead to someone, anyone, who could identify her. That hope had been crushed by the bastard who had deliberately smashed the skull to warn her off.

“Eve?” It was her mother walking toward her down the path. “That was the insurance company on the phone. They're sending a claims adjuster out right away.”

“Are they?” Evidently Logan's Margaret had prevailed. “How's Mrs. Dobbins?”

“Better. Do you think we should get her a little kitten?”

“Not for a few months. Let her get over the first hurt.”

Sandra's gaze went to the lab. “I'm sorry, Eve. All your files and equipment.”

“They'll be replaced.”

“This is such a nice, quiet neighborhood. Things like this never happen here. It kind of makes you scared.” She frowned. “Do you suppose we should get some kind of security system?”

“We'll talk about it.” She opened the kitchen door. “There's coffee, would you like some?”

“No, I had a cup with Mrs. Dobbins.” She paused. “I called Ron. He suggested we go out for lunch to get my mind off it. I told him no, of course.”

But it was obvious she wanted to go, Eve thought. Why shouldn't she? She'd had a hell of a morning and she wanted comfort. “There's no reason for you not to go. You can't do anything here.”

“You're sure?”

“I'm sure. Go call him back.”

She still hesitated. “He asked you to go along too. You said you wanted to meet him.”

“Not now. You said the insurance people were coming.”

“I'll come right back.”

Eve set Mandy's box down on the kitchen counter. “Stay out as long as you like.”

Sandra shook her head and said firmly, “Two hours. No longer.”

She waited until the door shut behind her mother before letting her fixed smile fade. It was stupid and selfish to feel this abandoned. Sandra had done everything she could to help. She just didn't realize how alone Eve was feeling.

Stop whining. You are alone. You've learned to deal with it. Even Sandra was sometimes more of a responsibility than a companion, but that was okay. She wasn't going to start feeling sorry for herself just because some slimeball had tried to scare her.

Fraser
.

Why did he keep invading her mind?

Because she felt as helpless and terrified as in those days after he had invaded her life. He had killed her daughter and she had been forced to plead with the authorities not to execute him. She had even gone to see him at the prison and begged him to tell her about Bonnie.

He had smiled that charming smile that had lured twelve children to their death, shook his head, and told her no. The bastard had even refused appeal so the books would be closed and the children would never be found. She had wanted to tear him apart, but she had been trapped, caught by the words he wouldn't say.

But she wasn't helpless now, or powerless. She didn't have to be a victim. She could take action. The knowledge sent a rush of fierce satisfaction through her. Logan could find who destroyed the lab for her.

If she paid his price.

Was she willing to pay it? She hadn't been sure before. She had been going to think rationally and unemotionally about the proposition before she gave him her answer.

Logan was probably banking on the fact that she didn't feel rational or unemotional now. He would take advantage of every weakness she showed him.

Then don't show him weakness. Take what you need and avoid the traps. She could do it. She was as smart as Logan and, as she had told him, she knew how to protect herself.

She was not a victim.

“I'll do it,” Eve said when Logan picked up the receiver. “But on my terms. Half my fee up front and the entire amount going to the Adam Fund deposited in their account before I leave this house.”

“Done. I'll do it by electronic transfer today.”

“I want proof that it's been done. I'll call the fund headquarters in four hours and make sure they've received it.”

“Fair enough.”

“And I want my mother and my home protected while I'm gone.”

“I've told you that you'd have security.”

“You also promised me you'd find out who destroyed my lab.”

“I've already got someone on it.”

“And if I find out that what I'm doing will make me an accomplice to any crime, I'm bailing out.”

“Okay.”

“You're being very agreeable.”

“I told you to name your price.” She was going to
do
it. Hell, he would have promised her the world. “Pack a suitcase. I'll be around to pick you up later this evening.”

“
If
I receive the confirmation from the Adam Fund.”

“Exception noted.”

“And I have to tell my mother where we're going.”

“Tell her you'll be moving around and you'll call her every other evening.”

“
Will
I be moving around?”

“Probably. I should be there by ten tonight.”

He hung up the phone.
Yes
. He had her. After he'd met Eve and gauged her toughness, he'd been afraid it would take much longer. He might still be arguing with her if the break-in hadn't made her so angry. Maybe he should thank that bastard Timwick. Authorizing that stupidity had been exactly the wrong thing for him to do. There had been enough violence to anger Eve, but not enough to completely scare her off.

And the incident had warned Logan that Timwick was suspicious and possibly had inside knowledge of his actions. Interesting.

Timwick was smart and didn't often make mistakes. When he learned that Eve had not been scared off, he would correct the error and up the ante.

And next time he would make sure it wasn't a cat that died.

A block from Eve's house Fiske smiled as he pulled the electronic listening piece out of his ear and laid it on the seat beside him. He'd always loved gadgets, and particularly admired this powerful X436 amplifier. The concept of hearing through walls was so intriguing. Actually, in this case, it was through panes of glass, but the feeling of power and control was the same.

That Eve Duncan wanted his head as part of her price for going with Logan was flattering. It showed how well he'd done his job. The dead cat had been a masterstroke. Death of pets always hit the nerve. He'd learned that when he'd killed the dog that had belonged to his fifth-grade teacher. The bitch had come to school with swollen eyes for a week.

He'd done his job; it wasn't his fault that Timwick's orders had backfired. Fiske had told him he needed a deeper strike, but Timwick had said it was premature, that it might not be needed.

Chicken bastard.

“Your front porch light is out,” Logan said when Eve opened the door. “Do you have a bulb? I'll change it.”

“I think there's one in the kitchen cabinet.” She turned and started down the hall. “Funny, I changed it just last week.”

The porch light was on when she returned a few minutes later with the new bulb. “You got it on.”

“It was just a little loose. Is your mother here?”

“She's in the kitchen.” She wrinkled her nose. “She took my going away very well. She's already planning on repainting the lab.”

“Could I meet her?”

“Of course. I'll go get—”

“Mr. Logan?” Sandra was coming toward them. “I'm Sandra Duncan. I'm so glad you're taking Eve away during this stressful period. She needs a little vacation.”

“I'm afraid it won't be a vacation, but it will definitely be a change. I'll try not to work her too hard.” Logan smiled. “She's lucky to have someone like you taking care of her.”

Logan had turned on the charm and her mother was melting, Eve noticed.

“We take care of each other,” Sandra said.